


Confusion

by protect-him (protect_him)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, MerFenris, Shark Justice, merfenders, mermanders, temporary memory loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 17:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12304245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protect_him/pseuds/protect-him
Summary: Day 7, Confusion. Yet another merfenders, because I can. Merfenris and Mermanders are just too cute to me.





	Confusion

Fenris wakes to a frantic prodding against his tail fin. Justice nudges him urgently.

“Jussis?”

The angel shark, seeing that Fenris is now awake, takes off for the cave entrance, faster than usual.

Fenris hurries after him, curious. Where is Anders? Perhaps Anders wants to show him something! Fenris grins and wriggles faster, eager to find his friend.

Justice leads Fenris away from the cave, slowing down near a ship. Anders had told Fenris to be careful around ships.

“Jussis! Boat!”

The shark swims up next to Fenris, nudging him down away from the surface.

Fenris follows Justice down, straight down...until it begins to get dark.

“Jussis! Dark!”

The shark hurries back and nuzzles him, then swims back down urgently.

“Where Anners?” Fenris asks, looking around, puzzled. Anders wouldn’t ask him to swim into deep, dark, scary waters, would he?

The shark frantically gestures downwards, into the dark, and then keeps swimming, fading as the water deepens.

Fenris, afraid of losing sight of Justice, hurries after him, grabbing onto his dorsal fin to help him keep up with the shark.

As it gets darker, Fenris shivers, but realizes something strange. He has been so afraid of being unable to see in the dark, but now that he’s here...his vision still seems just as good. The pale markings that run along either side of his tail fin and branch across his chest and back are glowing blue, illuminating the area around himself and Justice.

When Fenris looks downward, he sees Anders now. The brightly colored mer is curled up on the bottom, obscured by the gloom. He looks pale and deprived of all his colors.

Breaking away from Justice, Fenris swims down to Anders, trying to shake him awake.

“Anners! Awake!”

Anders does not wake up. He has several red welts across his arms and upper body. As Fenris tries to rouse him, Anders does not react. Finally, Fenris gathers the other mer to him, his arms wrapped tightly around Anders’ chest. He swims towards the surface, struggling with the added weight of the larger mer. Justice swims frantic circles around him until Fenris is in sight of the boat, when the shark takes off towards their cave, leading the way.

Determination fuels Fenris’s quickly draining energy, and he finally struggles, panting, into the cave and deposits Anders into their nest. Settling down next to the other mer, Fenris tries again to wake him.

“Anners, nest bed. Jussis, Fenners waiting.” No reaction. Fenris bends to give him a light kiss on the cheek. Still nothing.

Fenris hugs his arms around his mer’s body, cuddling up to him and crying softly.

After a short nap, Fenris wakes and finds to his delight that Anders is waking up as well, blinking and yawning.

“Anners! Wake!” Fenris looks down at him happily, his tail wiggling where it hangs off the nest.

Anders gives him a strange look, not a smile.

“Where did you come from?” He asks. And Fenris’s smile vanishes.

“Anners?”

“Why are you in my nest?” The mer bristles and rises up from where he’d been sleeping, looking ready to attack. Fenris yelps and tumbles back, only barely catching himself as he falls off the nest. He backs away.

“Fenners,” Fenris tries to explain, pointing to himself. “Anners save!”

Anders seems unconvinced. Justice has noticed that something is wrong as well and comes to float next to Fenris.

“Justice? What’s going on?” Anders rubs at his head and then neck, all the while keeping an eye on Fenris suspiciously.

Fenris is at a complete loss. Not only is Anders possibly hurt, but he also seems to have forgotten about Fenris.

Justice nuzzles Fenris’s hand and Fenris pets him, drawing another puzzled look from Anders.

“Justice seems familiar with you.”

“Jussis!” Fenris agrees, nodding eagerly. Anders remembers Justice, but not Fenris. He must have taken an unfortunate hit from the boat that Justice had pointed out. That also explains the red marks on Anders’ skin. They had probably tried to capture him. He’d gotten away, but hit his head in the process, sinking to the bottom.

“Where did you come from?” Anders repeats to Fenris. “You aren’t from the Circle pod, are you?”

“Sikkle?” Fenris tilts his head. He knows circle, but that is bubble shape and sun shape. Fenris is from man. _Man_. If Fenris shows Anders where he is from, perhaps Anders will remember.

“Man,” he says, hoping to trigger some memory in Anders. “Fenners fom man.”

Anders doesn’t seem to remember anything from that.

“Anners come. Fenners show!”

Anders looked to Justice as Fenris swam towards the cave opening. The shark was going along with the strange mer, so Anders assumed it wouldn’t hurt to humor him, though the word _man_ was a dangerous one.

The mer was incongruous with the sunny water. With the phosphorescent markings along his sides, his pale hair and dark skin—it was clear he belonged in the deep sea. He swam towards the shore, which made even _less_ sense.

He swam up to a huge building perched along the rocky coastline. Set into the building’s outer wall was a large glass pane. The mer swam up next to this.

“Anners see.”

Anders approached cautiously. Humans were dangerous. What could the mer mean by leading him to a human dwelling? Was it a trap?

Anders swam up to the glass and carefully placed a hand against the pane as he looked inside.

He saw an empty pool of water and suddenly remembered. The mer trapped in the pool, the things he’d seen done to him, and helping him escape. Anders turned to Fenris, eyes widening in recognition.

“I remember!”

Fenris’s face lit up with a relieved smile.

“Anners member!”

“Fenris!”

Anders sprang at Fenris to wrap him in an enthusiastic hug that had both of them tumbling, fins flailing as they spun away from the rocky shoreline.

Fenris gasped, blinking as he tried to recover.

“I was trailing this other mer,” Anders explained, when suddenly the mer got snatched up by a fishing ship and I tried to go up and help, but they nearly caught me too. I thought of you. I couldn’t leave you alone, so I tried desperately to escape. I made it, but must have hit my head, because the last thing I remember is flopping over the side of their boat.”

“Anners deep,” Fenris said seriously. Anders took his hand and started to pull him away from the shore, back to their cave.

“Was I all the way down at the bottom?” Anders asked. “How did you find me?”

“Jussis. Fenners swim. See dark!”

“You swam down into the dark? You’re terrified of it!”

“Fenners see! Fenners…” Fenris pointed to his markings.

“Oh, you glow in the dark,” Anders said. “They’re phosphorescent.”

“Fafaressiss,” Fenris attempted, nodding. “Fine Anners.”

“Yes,” Anders said, pulling Fenris close for another hug. “You found me. I might have swam off and left you if I woke up down there all alone.” He shuddered.

Fenris nuzzled against him.

“Mine Anners.”

Anders smiled fondly and closed his eyes, snuggling against Fenris.

“Yes, I’m yours,” he said softly. “Let’s go home.”


End file.
